Tissue holders



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 MHHWIII 32 INVENTOR. FwzaA/cs 5. SHELDON fl p 4477-0EA/5y F. B. SHELDON July 4, 1961 TISSUE HOLDERS Filed Aug. 14, 1959y 1961 F. B. SHELDON 2,990,946

TISSUE HOLDERS Filed g- 1 9 9 :5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Holes/we 5..SHE/.00

BY W2, 63%

' Arrozusr United States Patent 2,990,946 TISSUE HOLDERS Florence B.Sheldon, 57 0 N. Kenmore Ave.,

Los Angeles, Calif. Filed Aug. 14, 1959, Ser. No. 883,813 2 Claims. (Cl.20637) This invention pertains to new and improved tissue holders.

Tissues for facial and various other related purposes are commonlysupplied to consumers in various types of cardboard boxes or smallregenerated cellulose or similar paper containers. Such packages arerelatively inexpensive; they are also comparatively undesirable from aconsumers standpoint, particularly when the tissues contained withinthem are carried on the person of an individual from one location toanother. As such packages are carried as in a ladys handbag they tend tobecome smashed or otherwise disarranged. As a result of this, thetissues within them are frequently deformed, or soiled. It is quitecommon to have such tissues be mutilated so that they cannot be readilyseparated when they are carried in a handbag or the like within suchpackages.

In order to attempt to remedy the limitations of conventional paper orpaper-type packages for tissues as indicated in the preceding paragrapha number of efforts have been made to supply tissue holders within whichnew groups of tissues may be placed as required. In general such tissueholders have been formed out of comparatively rigid materials, such asstyrene and the like. For larger sized tissues, such rigid holders haveusually followed the general type of construction used withcomparatively large cardboard packages for the same sized tissues. As aresult of this these comparatively large, rigid tissue holders cannot bereadily carried upon the person of an individual. Further, they haveincluded openings in their tops which permit tissue soilage. Similarrigid holders in the general nature of boxes having lids have beenprovided for smaller sized tissues adapted to be carried by a person.Such rigid structures are uncomfortable to carry in the pocket or thelike; their character is such that they are not desirable to carryWithin a handbag, a purse or the equivalent. This type of box has fixeddimensions and, hence, always occupies the same amount of spaceregardless of the number of tissues Within it.

An object of the present invention is to provide new and improved tissueholders. Another object of this invention is to provide tissue holderswhich may be inexpensive and easily manufactured and which possess anumber of advantages over prior related structures as briefly indicatedabove. Another object of the present invention is to provide tissueholders of a comparatively soft or flexible character which adapt suchholders to be carried upon the body of an individual or in a pursewithout difliculty. A still further object of this invention is toprovide tissue holders as described which are adjustable so that thevolume occupied by such tissue holders may be regulated depending uponthe number of tissues located within them.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will be fullyapparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertainsfrom a detailed consideration of the remainder of this descriptionincluding the appended claims and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a tissue holder of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of a tissue holder of this invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of this tissue holder showing its interiorconstruction;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of a modified tissue holder of thisinvention;

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of this modified tissue holder;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of this modified tissue holder showing itsinterior construction;

FIG. 8 is a front perspective view of a further modified tissue holderof this invention;

FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view of this further modified tissueholder;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of this further modified tissue holder; and

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken at line 88 of FIG. 5.

The accompanying drawings are primarily intended so as to clearlyindicate certain presently preferred embodiments or forms of thisinvention. Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertainswill realize that the tissue holders shown may be altered in accordancewith routine design practice so as to adapt these tissue holders for usewith tissues of different sizes.

As an aid to the understanding of this invention it can be stated inessentially summary form that it concerns tissue holders, each of whichis formed of a sheet of material divided into a rectangular front side,a' rectangular rear side, and a flap. 'Ihese sides and the flap areconnected by areas of the sheet serving as top and bottom folds so thatthe sheet may be folded so as to have much the appearance of a commonenvelope. One side of this sheet serving as the interior of the envelopecarries retaining means which serve to retain tissues, and the otherside of this sheet serving as the exterior of the envelope carriesadjustable means serving to hold the front and back sides of the sheetwith respect to one another.

The actual details of this construction are best explained by referringto the accompanying drawings. In FIGS. 14 there is shown a tissue holder20 of this invention formed using a sheet 22 of a material such as avinyl resin or the like which is of a flexible, yet relatively stiffcharacter. This sheet is formed so as to include a rectangular frontside 24, a rectangular rear side 26 of the same size as the front side24, and a flap 28. These sides are connected by a fold 3t) joining theiradjacent edges. Another fold 32 parallel to the fold 30 connected theflap 28 to the front side 24. If desired, the sheet 22 may be scored orsimilarly treated so as to have greater flexibility in the areas ofthese folds 30 and 32 than at other areas of the sheet 22.

This sheet 22 is adapted to be folded in much the same manner as acommon envelope as indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings so that astack or group of tissues 34 are fitted under a pair of parallelretaining straps 36. These tissues 34 may be interlocked or not asdesired. The ends of the straps 36 are secured to sides of the interiorsurface or side of the sheet '22 when this sheet is folded as indicatedin FIGS. 1 and 2 by appropriate welds, an adhesive or the like. Thesestraps 36 are preferably located on the portion of the sheet 22designated as the front side 24 so as to be parallel to the folds 30 and32. Both of the straps 36 are longer than the width of the sheet 22 soas to hold the tissues 34 in a loose manner.

When the sheet 22 is folded as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawingsthe exteriors of the sides 24 and 26 are held together by an adjustableretaining strap 38 which extends parallel to the folds 30 and 32adjacent to the fold 32. This strap 38 is held in place by belt-likeretaining loops 40 secured to the side edges of the exterior of the rearside 26 and is secured to the exterior of the front side 24 by the useof welds, an adhesive or the like. Parts 42 of snap fasteners aresecured to the strap 38 along the width of the front side 24; aco-acting part 4-4 of a snap fastener is located on the free end of thestrap 38.

When the tissue holder 20 is first to be used the strap 38 is pulledthrough the loops 40, and then the sheet is laid flat as shown in FIG.3. Next the tissues 34 are inserted under the retaining straps 36adjacent the front side 24 so as to be held against this side. At thispoint the sheet 22 is folded to the configuration indicated in FIGS. 1and 2, and the strap 38 is reinserted through the loops 40. Then thepart 44 is attached to one of the parts 42 so as to compactly hold thetissues 34 between the sides 24 and 26. The flap 28 may be tucked inagainst the side 26 so as to protect the tissues 34 as the holder '20 iscarried from one location to another.

When an individual desires to use one of these tissues 34 the flap 28may be opened. Next the exposed edge of one of the tissues 34 eitheradjacent to the front side 24 or the rear side 26 may be engaged by thedigits on the hand of an individual and pulled. As this happens this onetissue 34 will separate from the other tissues 34, leaving the remainderof these tissues 34 within the holder 20. A clean separation betweentissues 34 occurs during this operation because as a single tissue 34 ispulled the remainder of these tissues are urged together and towardparts of the holder 20 so that friction tends to hold them together as aunit within this holder.

A major advantage of the holder 20 lies in the fact that the length ofthe strap 38 may be adjusted by attaching the part 44 to any one of theparts 42 so as to always hold the sides 24 and 26 adjacent to oneanother so that there is substantially no looseness between these sides24 and 26 and so that the tissues 34 are always held in place so thatthey do not tend to move from the holder 20 in an undesired manner.Further, this strap 38 makes it possible to adjust the size of theholder 20 to accommodate virtually any number of tissues 34 within theholder 20. When the strap 36 is kept properly adjusted the holder 20 hasa neat appearance at all times, and the tissues within it are protectedfrom soilage or the like.

In FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 of the drawings a modified tissue holder 50 of thisinvention is seen. Since the various parts of the holder 50 aresubstantially the same as corresponding parts of the holder 20 except asto dimension, the parts of the holder 50 are designated in the drawingsby the primes of the numerals previously employed and are not separatelydescribed in this specification.

The holder 50 is preferably dimensioned so as to hold tissues 34' of asize corresponding roughly to the size of folded legal documents,insurance policies, etc. Such tissues 34' are made longer than thetissues 34 and are preferred by many individuals than smaller tissues.The holder 50 is used substantially in the same manner as the holder 20.

In FIGS. 8, 9, and of the drawings there is shown a further modifiedtissue holder 60 of this invention which is very similar to the holders20 and 50. For convenience of explanation these parts of the holder 60which are the same, or substantially the same as corresponding parts ofthe holder 20 are designated in the drawings by the double primes of thenumerals previously employed. These parts are similarly designated inthis specification if necessary to facilitate an understanding of theholder 60; otherwise they are not separately described.

In the holder 60 the straps 36" are separated from one another along thelength of the sheet 22" so that one of these straps is located along thefree end of the rear side 26" and the other of these straps is locatedon the front side 24" along the fold 32". The straps 36" are positionedparallel to one another so as to meet when the holder 60 is in anoperative configuration as indicated in FIGS. 8 and 9.

These straps 36" are adapted to retain or hold tissues 34" of slightlysmaller size than the size of the front and rear sides, 24" and 26"respectively, together as indicated in FIG. 10. During use these tissues34 are folded across their middles along the fold 36", as. the entireholder 60 is being placed in an operative configuration as shown inFIGS. 8 and 9.

After the holder 60 has been folded in this manner a buckle 62 may beslid along the length of the strap 38" between the edges of the frontside 24". This is conveniently done manipulating the buckle 62 so thatthe strap 38" slides through a pair of generally parallel slots 64formed in it. Except during such movement friction will hold the buckle62 in any desired location.

This buckle 62 carries a part 42" which is adapted to co-act withanother part 44" of a complete snap fastener. This other part 44" islocated as previously described. With this construction the properlength of the strap 38 may be obtained at any time by the simpleexpedient of adjusting the position of the buckle 62 so that there issubstantially no slack when the strap 38 is secured in place by usingthe parts 42" and 44".

The holder 60 is adapted to be used in the same manner as the holders 20and 50 previously described. If desired, this holder 69 may be modifiedso as to use the same arrangement of parts 42 and 44 used with theholder 20, or the holders 20 and 5t} can be modified so as to employbuckles similar to the buckle 62.

Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will realizethat tissue holders as herein described are very simple, easily andinexpensively created devices which can be used by virtually anindividual in carrying tissues. Because of the nature of this inventionit is to be considered as being limited only by the appended claimsforming a part of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. A tissue holder which includes: a front rectangular side; a rearrectangular side attached to an edge of said front side by a fold; flapmeans attached to an edge of said front side remote from said rear side;retaining means, adapted to retain a stack of tissues of smallerdimensions than the dimensions of said front side and of said rear side,attached to one of said sides, said retaining means comprising aretaining strap secured at each of its ends to one of said sides so asto be parallel with an edge of said side; adjustable strap means, oneend of said strap means being secured to one of said sides and saidstrap means being adapted to extend completely around both of saidsides, when said sides are folded together so as to cover a stack oftissues retained by said retaining means; and co-acting snap meansmounted on both ends of said strap means and adapted to secure said endstogether, said snap means including a buckle mounted on one end of saidstrap means.

2. A tissue holder which includes: a sheet of material formed so as toinclude a rear side portion, a front side portion, and a flap, saidfront and rear sides being joined by a part of said sheet of materialserving as a fold, said 5 front side and said flap being joined by apart of said sheet serving as a fold, said folds being parallel to oneanother, said sheet being adapted to be folded into the general shape ofan envelope and having interior and exterior sides located as theinterior and exterior of said envelope shape, respectively, when saidsheet is so folded; two parallel retaining straps mounted at their endson the interior side of said sheet and adapted to retain a stack oftissues of smaller dimensions than the dimensions of said sheet;exterior strap means capable of extending completely around said sheetin said folded position and mounted at one end on the exterior side ofsaid sheet; and adjustable fastener means for securing together the twoends of said exterior strap means so as to hold said sheet in saidfolded position, said fastener means including co-acting par-ts mountedadjacent each end of said exterior strap means, said co-acting partsbeing capable of being secured to one another in a plurality of relativepositions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

